Photos of Hamner Springs, NZ

Another slow day at work today. I guess the long holiday has caused everyone to not work hard. Anyways, here's some photos of the spa resort of Hanmer Springs, NZ (about 1.5 hour drive north of Christchurch). This area is a holiday retreat for many locals with the many rental homes that dot the area. These homes are rented out on a daily basis or even longer. They are fully furnished and equipped with everything. You can see the home that we lived in. It is quite big! The thermal hot springs is the main attraction here. They are all outdoor styled pools similar to your normal wading pools. There is also a waterslide at an extra cost.

Locally here in Macau, I've been receiving the lucky red packets from relatives, friends and colleagues. So, my packets are both in HK dollars and Macau Patacas. I've even received one red packet from a female labourer whom helps me out on the construction site. I haven't counted how much I received. It looks like in excess of 30 red packets...!

Apparently, during my trip to NZ in Dec. 2005, the adjacent construction site (Galaxy Starworld Hotel) was a war zone. 10 vehicles parked along the road were showered with concrete! There was a concrete burst from the 10-15th floor of the superstructure! There wasn't any news report of this happening. But luckily, nobody was hurt. The site has already taken out the hoarding (with no covered walkway). A passerby was knocked out dead on the scene from a falling object. The contractor was worse enough by saying that there's no proof that the falling object was from their site. I try not to walk past that site....